RIOTOUS MAORIS.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 February 1921, Page 11

RIOTOUS MAORIS.

EUROPEANS TERRORISED. DRINKING IN "DRY” AREA, Gisborne, Feb. 17. •Stories of wild doings are reaching GiSborne from Te Araroa, a township of the east coast, 110 miles to the north. The information given was fully confirmed and corroborated by the remarks made to a reporter to-day by Mr. J. S. Barton, S.M., the local magistrate, who returned to Gisborne last night. Mr. Barton has been away on a tour of the East Coast, and during his trip held sittings of the Court. “I have received a good many com* plaints lately,” he said, “from prominent residents of Te Araroa and business people o'f the very serious state of affairs existing there, stating that life in the township was becoming intolerable by reason of the excessive drinking by th© Maoris. I am informed that white people are in the minority, and also that large and frequent shipments of spirits are being made there The result is seen in the conditions complained of. I am informed that drunken Maoris attack the storekeepers and demand goods on ere- ! dit, and the storekeepers complain that conditions are so bad that their assistants will not remain with them. One of the assistants has made application to me to be allowed to carry arms. Just prior to my leaving for the coast I received a strongly-worded letter from a resident, begging to be protected, while the Minister for Justice and the representative in Parliament have also been told of the conditions at Te Araroa This letter was accompanied by one from the clerk of the Matakaoa County Council, stating that he was instructed to associate the council with the application to enforce some remedy. “At the Court at Port Awanui,” Mr. Barton continued, “a large list of criminal cases was heard, and practically without exception all are based on the over-indulgence in liquor, and revealed a most distressing state, of life. The Justice Department has been urged to send an extra policeman to Te Araroa, and to build a lock-up. Constable Mclntyre stated, in evidence, that under the present conditions he could not cope with tlfe work without help, but that if the proper facilities were allowed there would be next to nothing for him to do.

“Evidence was given before me,” said Mr. Barton, “that in connection with the drunken rowdiness that goes on, it is quite impossible for white women to attend the local picture show, by reason oL the riotmis and disgraceful conduct of drunken Maoris. I have made certain recommendations to the Justice Department, and I hope sdon to find time to visit Te Araroa and hold a sitting of the Court, while I also intend to bring the matter before my brother members of the Licensing Committee. I may add that the district is a prohibition area, a Maori poll having decided that jt is illegal to supply liquor on or off the premises, and yet we find that Constable Mclntyre spends his whole time in putting down drunken brawls and separating street.fighters.”